What Are You Building?

The Creation Mandate gave us two imperatives to the first entity he created, the family:

• Make order from chaos
• Be fruitful and multiply

This all happened before the fall– before sin entered into the world. That means that the Earth needed order, and Adam and Eve and their descendants had a job to do. After the fall, these things would be more difficult, as every part of their tasks was touched by the fall.

Making order out of chaos would be more difficult because the ground was cursed. It would need more work to bring forth fruit, and the animals would now be fierce and present possible threats. For the woman, bearing children would now be painful. For both of them, they would now be at odds with each other instead of cooperating with each other.

One Flesh

In the middle of this, Adam makes another statement– that a man should leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. The two would become one flesh. Does that mean that we should always be forming new family units and pushing people out of their families?

If it did, then generations of Israelites got it wrong!

The Bible records that people lived lives together in family groups– to the point that God had to separate family groups at the Tower of Babel. Even after, multigenerational family structures were the norm. Jesus, on the cross, still had some responsibility to care for his mother– he made sure to transfer that responsibility to John the apostle. Paul states in the New Testament that anyone not taking care of the widow or their family was like an infidel.

If that’s not what it means, then what does it mean? It means that the two become one– they’re no longer separate. They live together, are on mission together, and should consider their relationship as if it’s one being. Meaning that it’s primary over the familial relationship– not that they no longer listen or are a part of their families.

One Teaching

In the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 6 tells us what the Israelite people needed to do so that they would follow God all the days of their lives. The promise in this passage speaks to multiple generations:

1. “This is the command—the statutes and ordinances—the LORD your God has instructed me to teach you, so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and possess. 2 Do this so that you may fear the LORD your God all the days of your life by keeping all His statutes and commands I am giving you, your son, and your grandson, and so that you may have a long life. 3 Listen, Israel, and be careful to follow them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly, because Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey.
4 “Listen, Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One. d 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. 7 Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. j 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (Dt 6:1–9). (2009). Holman Bible Publishers.

Here we see that the message would repeat down three generations, and if you taught and lived these things, you and your family would prosper.

Love the Lord with all your Heart, Soul, and Strength

This is something that is lived out in the every day. You show that you love him by putting his words in your heart. You repeat the words to your spouse and your children everywhere you are– whether it’s when you lie down, wake up, walk in the park, when you do the laundry, or when you clean out the cat-box. God told them to put his word around their house and on their person so that they were available any time they wanted.

Don’t Forget God as He Blesses You

God wanted them to know that he was providing them a perfect land, and that they shouldn’t get complacent or believe that their blessings were on account of their own deeds, and forget God. They were to always give God the recognition he deserves and praise him for what he had done.

Explain the Covenant to Your Children

As the Israelites saw blessings and watched their parents do different things in the covenant, they were to make sure that the children understood why they did them. They should explain how God brought them out of Egypt, the meaning of the covenant, and why they did what they did.

One Mission

When Jesus gave the Great Commission, before he ascended back to Heaven, he told his disciples that their mission was the same as those of the covenant– but applied to all people. Disciples are to make other disciples– offspring in the faith that are to be trained to follow God, to see him as high and lifted up.

• We are to baptize them– birth them into the new life.
• We are to teach them to observe all things– just like the father in the Jewish household would do
• We are to remember he is with us always– just like having the Word of God on our person and all over our home.

So, as you’re beginning the journey into married life, think about what you’re building. What choices will you make now that will impact your ability to do things later on? What patterns and practices can you put into your daily rhythm to help you to stay faithful? What is your vision and goals for your family?